Possible Pathways to Certification

All right, this will be a rambling post because I'm thinking out loud on a lot of things ...

First of all, it makes sense to take the MAT fairly quickly. You have to do that no matter what you end up doing. Everybody wants the MAT for admission.

Secondly, it's pretty important to figure out whether you want to pursue the special ed thing, the media specialist thing or even the social studies thing. Direction is vital. But, I do think you can explore information on what those different pathways *mean* in terms of time and effort as you are deciding your ultimate direction.

Some things way in your favor: there is a huge need for special ed teachers. The fact that you did the two semesters of observation or internship or whatever you would call it ... that's invaluable experience and gives you (in my opinion) a lot credibility in a possible pursuit of an MAT in special education. You've been in a classroom long enough to see what it's really like. You have some real hands-on experience.

Some unanswered questions:

Could you get the equivalent major thing which would allow you to do PACE in special ed?
Would you want to even do PACE? It's limited to the 'emotionally disturbed' certification.
BUT, could you do PACE and work on the MAT in the specialty you would want, at the same time ??

One possible path ...
Take the MAT.
Apply for both the Special Ed program and the MLIS program.
Apply for the career changers *and* teacher loans (if you can even do that). (With the idea that if career changers falls flat, you would still have teachers loans with their repayment options)

Then...
See what job openings come up in Pickens Co. ...
Possible PACE for special ed ???
Would need 4 MLIS courses before you could apply for media specialist job ...
I think that might fall under PACE too !
Work part-time on graduate degree (2 grad courses per semester) ...

OK, my brain is officially tired now. Some things to think about.